As one of the ladies signed under the Roc Nation imprint, expectations must be high for songbird Bridget Kelly. The R&B landscape is peppered with others who might compare – young, pretty, and edgy. But, there’s something about Kelly, an honesty, depth, and rockish-soulfulness that rings through immediately upon meeting her.

There obviously must be something extraordinary within her. After all, she caught the attention of Roc Nation’s Jay-Z back during his Def Jam days, and he brought her along for the ride to his new label nearly three years ago. These days, however, Kelly, the formally trained singer with the “Old Hollywood” sounding name, doesn’t want to rest pretty on her associations. As she tells AllHipHop.com in this exclusive interview at Roc Nation’s offices, she truly is different from the rest of the field:

With songs that can be described as emotional and sometimes fun, Kelly offers tracks that speak to the truth of a young woman living through fantasies, love, and heartache. Those aren’t new themes, but her almost rap-like cadence gives them new energy over production that doesn’t overpower her delicate, melodic voice.

Kelly wants listeners to like her, and feel her even, so much so that her new Roc Nation EP release, Every Girl, is being offered up for free via the secure, file-sharing service, Fileblaze. Here she discusses some of her latest releases, helped out by winners like Frank Ocean, along with a surprising career choice she’d be happy to make if the singing doesn’t pan out:

According to Kelly, she doesn’t have to perform in leotards or have hair weaved down her back to come across as confident and secure. She says her ambition for rising to the top can be traced back primarily to one thing – the influence of other strong women in her life and beyond. In the clip below, she names five, fearsome females and some others who have helped shape her unique walk towards fame: